7 Weeks of House-Sitting
by kaitlinmccormack
Summary: Hermione Granger has agreed to house-sit for her friends for 7 weeks as they take a vacation to America. Everything is running smoothly until she runs in to her new neighbour... someone she thought she'd never see again. Is he still the boy she used to loathe or has he transformed into a man she can learn to love? OOC, post-hogwarts.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys, I made a new thing. **

**Review, tell me what you think, let me know if you want me to write more. **

**Thanks! x**

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There is something to be said about England in the winter. The snow, the smells, the way your breath materialises in front of you, it just lights up something magical inside me. It's an indescribable feeling of pure bliss that seems to warm me up from the inside out. It's one of my favourite feelings in the world.

Of course, not everyone feels the same way.

"Bloody snow!" A ginger haired man with freckles adorning his face stood impatiently next to me, clutching a small paper cup as if his life depended on it.

"Ronald!" I scorned. He looked down at me with apologetic eyes and took a deep drink of coffee from his cup.

"I can't help it, Hermione. It's leaking into my socks! It's not even snowing anymore and it's still everywhere. This is insane." I listened to him complain for a few more minutes before I rolled my eyes and blocked him out. He brought my attention back to himself only moments later with a quick tap on the shoulder.

"Where did you say this was from again? Star- Starnuts-"

"Starbucks." I corrected, smirking, "It's a muggle coffee house. Good, right?"

Ron huffed slowly before nodding once and bringing the brim of the cup back up to his lips.

The two of us currently stood under a small bus shelter just outside the city limits, and as it had just began to rain again, we were awkwardly squished together to try to keep as dry as possible under the small metal shelter.

"Remind me again why I chose to come here with you…" Ron sighed, scratching the back of his neck with his free hand.

I took a small sip of my coffee before replying softly, "Georgina and Emily wanted to see me again and considering they know I don't have a car, and I also couldn't very well Apparate right into their apartment, I told them I'd catch the bus and come visit them. You're with me because you're a good friend, and because I think it would be good for you to develop an understanding of the way the muggle world works."

"Muggles are idiots if this is how they get around. It's cold and my feet are wet and I'm hungry! I want to go home, Hermione." Ron pouted and I briefly considered tugging his bottom lip off with my hand.

"You're always hungry! Come on, you like Georgina, you said she was funny." I encouraged, while gripping a little tighter to my paper coffee cup in an attempt to draw its warmth to my hands.

"Yeah, but I never understand half the things she says. What's feetball?"

"Football, Ron. It's a muggle sport. I've explained all this to you before! Look, just laugh when I do, eat whatever food she cooks you, and stick to what you know. Don't mention anything to do with our world and you'll be fine. You always are." I promised.

"Fine." Ron grumbled for a couple of moments before turning his attention to finishing off his coffee. With a loud burp and a satisfactory grin, he threw both of our rubbish into the trash can a couple of feet away from us.

Georgina was a childhood friend I had before I left for Hogwarts. We would often catch up during Christmas break and what-not. She met her girlfriend, Emily, in university and they've been together ever since. I hadn't seen her in a couple of months, so with some persuasion I'd convinced Ron to take a day trip to London with me to visit her. Of course, I'd somehow manage to choose to go on what seemed to be the coldest day of the year and Ron had not shut up about it since I picked him up from his house.

"Oh, it's coming. Hermione, the bus is coming!" Ron's sullen disposition changed into happiness and he pointed to the large metal vehicle coming towards us, "We can finally get out of this cold!"

I laughed at his enthusiasm and watched as the bus rolled to a stop before us. I paid the fair and we moved towards an available seat near the back. Luckily, it wasn't really full today so it wasn't too difficult to manoeuvre around.

Five minutes into our bus ride, the novelty wore off on Ron and he was back to complaining.

"Hermione, this is so boring!" He whisper-yelled, causing an elderly woman to turn towards him and glare. He flinched slightly under her gaze and I stifled a laugh.

"Ron, shut up. We're only about ten minutes away, anyway. Just be patient." I scolded.

Ron seemed to take my tone seriously so he turned and faced the window, soon becoming distracted by the rain droplets forming on the window.

We sat in a comfortable silence for the next ten minutes, only paying attention to our surroundings when the bus driver pulled up to a stop. I read a book tucked away in my bag for the duration of the trip but when I saw the street name of our destination, I folded the page down and placed it back in my bag quickly.

"Hey, come on. We're here." I nudged Ron and he grinned. We stood from our seats as the bus stopped and quickly hopped off.

The street we stood on was lined with flats running down its sides, with a couple of old houses squished in between the tall buildings. A couple walked together on the opposite side of the street from us, and I could hear a crying child in the distance. For a moment, the whole thing seemed surreal. I suppose being around magic so much had caused the lives of regular people to become abnormal.

"Come on, Hermione. It's cold." Ron huffed, gripping my shoulder to help steer me in the direction of the small apartment building at the end of the street.

"Right." I brushed my hair out of my eyes and fastened up the top button of my coat, moving swiftly to escape the bite of the harsh wind. The apartment at the end of the street had two 'for sale' signs sitting out the front, with a big red 'sold' slapped across one. I briefly wondered if Georgina and Emily were going to get new neighbours.

Once we reached the building, we took the stairs to the third floor. This caused Ron to groan a couple of times but with a stern look from me, he got the picture and closed his mouth. We stopped outside Georgina's flat and I didn't even manage to knock once before the door went flying open and I was shoved backwards several inches. Short blonde hair clouded my vision and I heard Ron stifle a laugh as I wound my arms around the girl who was hugging me.

"Hermione! Oh, how are you?" Georgina asked. She hugged me for a moment longer before stepping back with a large grin stretched across her face.

"Hey, Georgie. I'm great! How about you?" I had to crane my neck to look up at the five-foot-eleven woman standing in front of me.

"_So _great! I'm so excited to see you again. It feels like it's been ages." She huffed out the last sentence with a stern look in my direction and I laughed awkwardly. I knew I didn't come into muggle London enough and it pained me that I didn't get to spend much time with one of my best friends.

"Hey Ron." Georgina chirped, turning her attention to Ron before giving him a quick hug. He patted her back a couple of times and mumbled a greeting in reply before the pair of us were ushered inside the apartment quickly.

The warmth of the place hit me immediately, and I know Ron felt it too because he let out a satisfactory groan and began tugging off his jacket as I did the same. We hung our coats and scarfs up on the rack next to the door before we followed Georgina down the short hallway towards her living room.

The living room was large and it joined up with the kitchen. The whole place was cosy and bright and I remembered fondly the multiple times I'd fallen asleep on the comfortable couch sitting in the corner after I'd come for dinner here. Apparently, Ron thought it looked comfortable too, because he made a beeline straight for it as soon as he saw it.

"Hey guys!" A light American voice piped up from behind the kitchen and I turned to face a smiling brunette.

"Hi Em," I walked over to her and hugged her quickly before letting her go as she twisted her torso to continue with her cooking.

"How are you, 'Mione?" She asked. Since I was young, Georgina had called me by that nickname and when she met Emily, she picked up on it right away.

"I'm great, actually," I smiled, "you?"

"Can't complain."

I gave her one last grin and turned towards Georgina and Ron who were sitting on the couch as Georgina flipped through channels on the TV and Ron sat mesmerised by it. I stifled a laugh and watched his cheeks go red when he saw me.

"Where's Peter?" He wondered suddenly, snapping his head to look between Emily and Georgina.

"Oh," Georgina placed the remote down and smiled, "He's in my room, I'll go grab him. Hang on."

Peter was a Scottish Terrier that Georgina and Emily adopted a couple of years ago. He was short and brown and was the sweetest animal I'd ever met. Ron adored him, probably due to the very likely fact that he was a dog in a previous life.

After a couple of seconds, I heard the tell-tale sound of clipped nails scratching along the ground before the small dog ran into the room. He let out one small bark and raced over to me. He lifted himself up so that he was standing on his back legs as I gave him an affectionate scratch behind the ear and he licked my hand fondly.

"Hello there, mister." I cooed, watching his tail wag.

"Peter!" Ron called. The dog saw the man and ran straight over to him. Soon enough all I managed to see was a brown fluff ball and a tuff of red hair as they rolled along the ground together, with Ron teasing Peter by grabbing his tail.

"Oh, god. Would you look at those two?" Georgina laughed and I turned to her with an amused grin.

After a couple of glasses of wine and some lunch, the four of us sat down on the couches in the living room and I caught up on everything that's been happening in the two girls' lives. Luckily the topic of what I was doing these days never came up, it never really seemed to anymore. They spoke about Georgina's teaching job, and how things were doing at Emily's law firm. They seemed happy and it made my insides glow with warmth.

"'Mione, we have some news." Emily took Georgina's hand in hers and they both looked at me with excitement in their eyes.

"Okay?" I pushed, placing my wine glass on the coffee table in front of me.

"Em and I are going to go visit her family in Dallas next week!" Georgina squealed.

With the way the two girls were acting, it was as if they'd just told me they were getting married. Of course, they had every right to be excited. Emily's family has never been as understanding of her relationship as Georgina's, so the she hasn't been in contact with her parents in years. Going to see them meant they were one step closer to becoming a proper family again.

"Oh, that's amazing!" I beamed, congratulating them wholeheartedly, "How long are you going for?"

Emily's face became strained and Georgina shifted in her seat slightly, "Seven weeks. We're going to visit her family and then kind of turn the whole trip into a vacation. Actually, there's a reason why we asked you to come over today. We were wondering if you could house sit for us."

"Absolutely." I nodded, not even taking a second thought.

"'Mione, you'd actually have to live here. We can't take Peter with us because Em's mum is allergic to dogs, and we don't want to put him in a kennel. So, you'd need to stay here and look after him." Georgina said.

"That's no problem, honestly. I love Peter and I'd be more than happy to help you guys out." I really had no issues with staying here. I've been living with Ginny and Harry for about a year now, so giving them some alone time would be nice. Plus, I missed muggle London a lot. Maybe getting away from the drama of the Wizarding World for a while would do my head some good.

Georgina beamed and stood up to give me a warm hug. She pulled apart and immediately launched in to her plans for their vacation.

"We're leaving next Wednesday at noon, so can you get here at about eleven? Peter needs to be walked daily and his food bowl gets replenished every morning. I'll shop on Monday so the house is fully stocked for you, are you sure you're happy to do this? I was going to ask Patricia but she just moved in with her boyfriend. Gosh, you have no idea how excited I am to be meeting Emily's family at last." She went around in circles for another half an hour and I listened to her speak while Ron tried to figure out how to use the TV and Emily began cleaning up.

At about three in the afternoon I realized I had to get back home, so Ron and I said our goodbyes to the girls and I promised to see them on Wednesday while he wished them luck with his trip.

"Is there anything else we need to tell her?" Emily pondered, looking around the hallway as if she was trying to remember something. Ron and I were tugging on our scarfs and coats quickly, eager to hide from the chilly weather.

"No, I don't think so babe." Georgina said, wrapping an arm around Emily. Her face lit up briefly and she turned towards me. "Oh, the apartment across from us just got sold so the new tenant will be moving in soon, aside from that there's really nothing you don't already know about the place."

"Okay, well I'll see you guys soon!" I hugged them each one last time before I left the building with Ron, doing up my coat on the way out.

I was looking forward to the next few weeks.


	2. Chapter 2

**We meet Draco in this chapter! Thanks for the positive reviews I've been receiving already, guys. x **

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I arrived back at the girls' apartment the following Wednesday with a large suitcase clutched in my left hand. They told me to come over at about eleven, so naturally I was half an hour early.

"Hey, 'Mione! I knew you'd get here ahead of schedule." Emily greeted me at the door with a large smile and an offer to take my suitcase off my hands. I let her grab the heavy object and followed her into the warmth of the house, stripping myself of my coat.

I smelt fresh coffee and muffins when I walked into the living room and my mouth instantly began to water. Emily offered me a drink which I happily accepted and I took the coffee cup off of her with two hands, absorbing the heat into my fingers as I drank it.

"Hey there." Georgina walked into the living room and gave me a quick hug, "How long ago did you get here? I didn't see the bus go past."

The girls could see the entire street from the window in their living room, and I tensed up as I remembered this fact, I couldn't very well tell them I'd magically apparated to the empty lobby and just walked up the stairs.

"Uh, yeah. I took a different route, guess you missed me."

Georgina nodded and walked over to the pile of suitcases sitting in the corner of the room. She seemed lost in thought for a moment before clapping her hands and turning to me with a cheerful grin.

"Alright, we're all packed," She gave Emily a high-five as she walked past and I laughed, "The guest bedroom is all made up for you, I figured you wouldn't want to sleep on the couch or anything. The kitchen is stocked too. Also, I'm not taking my laptop so you can use it if you want."

I nodded along with what she was saying. Her excitement seemed to radiate off of her which only made me happier for her. Peter came into the room and sniffed me once before jumping onto the couch and lying down.

"His food is in the pantry, you just follow the instructions on the back. Can you make sure to walk him every day as well? There's also treats for when he- Oh, there's a moving van out the front."

Georgina peered out the window to the floor sitting three levels below us. She was right, there was a large truck parking awkwardly on the side of the small street and once they stopped, three large men climbed out.

"Didn't you say you were getting a new neighbour?" I asked, standing next to her and looking down.

"Yeah, the apartment across the hall from us was sold like two weeks ago; I didn't know they were moving in this soon. Em and I had to wait a month after signing our contract." She shrugged her shoulders and turned away from the window at the same time I did.

"Babe, we should probably get going. We have to get to the airport half an hour before the plane takes off." Emily piped up from the couch which she was currently sharing with Peter, scratching him fondly.

Georgina smiled and nodded, "Yeah, alright. Let's get going." She turned to me, "Are you sure you're going to be okay?"

"Everything is going to be fine!" I soothed, sensing the anxious tone in her voice, "Just go have a great holiday okay?"

"Yeah, okay. You're totally right, it's going to be great." She seemed to be trying to talk herself into it, which made sense seeing as she was about to meet her girlfriends parents for the first time.

I gave Emily a quick kiss on the cheek and told her to have a safe flight. She said her goodbyes to both Peter and I before grabbing some suitcases and heading down to her car. Georgina was kissing her dog sloppily and patting his head.

"You'll be a good boy for Hermione, okay?" She said, watching him wag his tail in reply, "Good boy."

"Come on, Georgie. Just leave already!" I chuckled, hugging her quickly and kissing her cheek.

"Alright, 'Mione. I'll see you in a couple of weeks. Love you."

"I love you too," We started walking towards her door with her carrying the rest of the suitcases, "I'll see you soon."

I waved at her from the doorway as she walked through the hall and disappeared down the steps. I carefully placed my foot in front of the gap in the door to make sure Peter didn't escape as he watched me with a questioning look on his face.

"Hey buddy!" I cooed, "You're gonna hang out with me for a while, okay?" Although he had no idea what I was saying, I like to think a small look of approval passed over his features. I shook my head and turned to go back inside, but not before seeing two of the large, burley men from the moving truck carrying a couch up the stairwell.

They acknowledged me with a tilt of the head each before they both disappeared through the open door across from me, which I presumed was the previously vacant apartment that had recently been sold.

"Yeah mate, just over in the corner. Thanks." A voice called from inside the doorway and my senses snapped to attention. I swore I'd heard that voice somewhere before. I just couldn't remember where…

Peter yapped obnoxiously from beside me so I quickly ushered him to step back so I could close the door. Once I did that, he scampered off down the short hallway and I figured I might as well unpack my things.

I walked to the kitchen and put the empty coffee cup in my hands onto the counter before grabbing my suitcase from next to the kitchen table and I walked through towards the other end of the apartment. There really wasn't much else to the place. There was a small hallway which took me to the master bedroom, with a bathroom next to it, and then to the guest room. When I pushed the door open I was greeted with a large sofa bed, made to perfection due to Georgina's freakishly good bed making abilities. There was an empty wardrobe against the far wall, a decent sized window, and a dresser next to the door. In all the years I'd known these two girls, I realized I'd only been in this room twice.

Unpacking my bag took about ten minutes. I unloaded my clothes into the wardrobe, placed my toiletries in the bathroom, and dumped a large pile of books on top of the dresser. All in all, I was impressed with my effort as I quickly crammed the suitcase into my wardrobe.

Looking at my watch, I noticed it was only eleven thirty. Considering I had no plans for the entire day, I decided to just lie on the couch and watch the television for a while before figuring out what my next move was.

I watched several episodes of a TV show called 'What Not to Wear' before I realized that it was already four thirty. I shot up out of the chair and silently cursed the television, remembering harshly why I didn't allow myself one in my own house. Ginny never seemed to care, but I could tell Harry did.

Due to the fact that the sun was already hiding behind clouds, I knew I didn't have long before it grew too dark to take Peter out for his walk. I put on his harness and watched his eyes light up in glee when he saw that we were leaving. The dog could get excited over a cardboard box. I've seen it happen.

Once my coat was buttoned up I walked out the front door and the two of us made our way down the stairs, Peter tugging me as fast as he could. I noticed the moving van from this morning had gone, although it did leave muddy tire tracks in its wake.

Our walked lasted a half hour, the chill becoming too much for me as we quickly bustled ourselves back inside the house once the clouds became too dark and it looked like it was going to snow. Peter looked satisfied though, and with the clock reading five in the afternoon, I knew we'd have to call it a day.

I read for a little while once back home, but just as I was getting stuck into the novel, the phone rang. I briefly wondered if I should answer, before remembering that I gave Harry the girls' number to call me if he needed to.

"Hello?" I chimed into the phone.

"Hey Hermione." I was right, Harry's voice came booming from the earpiece and I smiled, relieved to have someone to talk to.

"Hi, Harry. What's up?"

"I was just calling to make sure you were settling in okay. How long are you there for again?"

"Seven weeks, unless the girls come back early or something. Oh, and yeah, I'm settled in just fine. I got back from walking Peter a while ago and I'm about to make food or something."

"Okay, good." I could hear the grin in his voice and I knew he appreciated the time he had to be with Ginny alone.

We chatted for a while longer before he had to go, so I hung up the phone and cooked myself some pasta. My night after that was relatively boring. I read, watched some TV, and eventually I fell asleep with Peter curled up next to me in bed.

* * *

The next couple of days went by quickly. I went into the city a couple of times, did some more research for my next book, and visited my parents once. It was currently Sunday evening and I was walking through the hallway with Peter on a leash in front of me and a bag full of Chinese food in my hand.

The apartment across the hall had music blaring out of it and I groaned, realizing whoever it was must be having some form of housewarming party. I unlocked the door to the apartment and ran inside, trying to block the noise out. Unfortunately, the loud thumping of the bass seemed to carry all the way into the living room, not stopping its heavy beat.

I unsaddled Peter and he growled slightly towards the door. I laughed and scratched his head.

"You and me both, buddy." I said.

After pouring myself a large glass of wine and transferring my food from its plastic containers to a proper bowl, I sat at the kitchen table to eat. I tried turning the radio on as background music but it couldn't compete with what was coming from across the hall, so I just turned it off. Eating in near-silence was almost relaxing anyway.

After dinner, I showered and changed into some shorts and a long sleeved shirt. I put some bed socks on my feet and slid awkwardly along the hardwood floors as I made my way over to the couch. The music hadn't ceased so I turned on the TV and pumped the volume up until I could hear it properly, determined not to let it annoy me.

Unfortunately, it did annoy me. It annoyed me a lot. It annoyed me so much that as I lay in bed at eleven thirty, I was about ready to scream with frustration. Peter wasn't asleep either, he had taken to barking at the door every couple of minutes, which was also beginning to drive me crazy. I tried very hard to block out all the sounds coming from across the hall, but I snapped when a loud group of people began singing along.

I shot out of bed, speed walked across the apartment, careful not to slip on the floor, and flung the front door open in frustration.

I crossed the hallway in two quick strides and knocked loudly on the door of the offending house. A couple of seconds later, a skinny red headed woman opened the door. She was wearing clothing that was far too tight, and by the looks of her expression, was as happy to see me as I was to see her.

"What?" She slurred. I could tell she was drunk.

"Do you think you could turn the music down?" I fumed, "It's almost midnight and I can't get to sleep. What you're doing is just obnoxious!"

She stared at me for a while with an amused expression on her face. Obviously this entire situation was amusing to her. That only fuelled my fire.

"Calm down lady, jeez." She wobbled on her feet and for a second I thought she was going to fall down. She steadied herself eventually and twisted her torso so she was facing back inside the apartment.

"What are you-" I was cut off by her yelling.

"Drake! Hey, Drake! Come here, you got a visitor." She was silent for a moment as someone; I'm assuming it was 'Drake' spoke to her, "I don't know, some uptight brown haired bitch."

I was taken aback by her language but before I had time to tell her off, she walked back inside the room.

I crossed my arms and tapped my foot on the ground, waiting for whoever it was to come to the door so I could get them to turn the music off. I was way too tired for this.

"Yeah, what's goi-" A deep male voice floated from the apartment before the door was pulled back slightly and I was greeted with a shock.

Suddenly I was wide awake. Standing in front of me was someone I never thought I'd see again. Draco Malfoy. A very drunk, very confused, and _very _shirtless Draco Malfoy; looking as completely shocked as I was.

We stood in silence for a couple of seconds, surveying each other, before I blurted out the only words that came to my mind.

"What the fuck."


	3. Chapter 3

**This one is shorter than the others. I'm sorry if things don't really make sense but I haven't slept properly in ages and I'm in the middle of year twelve so I'm kind of running on nothing but pure chocolate filled energy at the moment. **

**P.S: Happy Easter! It's Easter Sunday here, as of nine minutes ago.**

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Almost as soon as the words came rushing out, my hand slapped over my mouth. My eyes went wide and I stood in the doorway, slightly appalled. I wasn't usually one to swear so freely.

"Uh, I mean… what, what are you doing here?" I tried my best to recover from the shock of seeing him again. It had been over five years since I'd last been to Hogwarts, five years since I'd even thought about Draco Malfoy.

He didn't reply. Instead, he looked at me with confusion over all of his features so I cleared my throat loudly to get his attention.

"I live here." While I knew it was a statement, it sounded more like a question, "This is my house."

"No, you don't." I didn't mean to sound so harsh, but my tone was suddenly rude and threatening.

"Well, what the fuck are you doing here then?" Draco had managed to go from confused to angry in five milliseconds and I flinched.

"House sitting." I stuttered.

He ran his hand through his hair and turned around to look back inside his apartment. The crowd of people dancing and talking didn't look even slightly concerned about him, so he turned back to me and frowned.

"You should leave. I'll turn the music down or whatever, just go back to your place." It wasn't a question, and I wasn't in the mood to argue. I was still slightly dumbfounded that someone who was possibly one of the most prejudice men I have ever known was currently surrounded by people he had previously sworn were beneath him.

"Are you… are they like-"

"Like us? No, they're not." He answered, quickly cutting me off. I was surprised he said 'like us' and not 'like me,' but I didn't linger on it, "I'm serious Granger, leave."

With that, he turned around and walked back inside, shouting to his friends and laughing loudly. When the door closed, I stood in front of it for a few minutes before the chill started to become too much for my legs so I walked back inside the house. Peter stood at the door with his tail wagging and I couldn't help but let out a shaky laugh.

Deciding to just ignore the events that had unfolded, I walked quickly across the apartment and wrapped myself up in my bed. One thing I did notice before I fell asleep though was that the music was significantly quieter.

* * *

"Hey Hermione, just checking to make sure everything is okay there! How's Peter doing? We're settling in with Emily's parents and everything is going really well. Call me when you can!"

I played the voice message Georgina had left for me when I walked through the door of the apartment the next day. I'd gone out to pick up some groceries and had ended up standing in the pet food isle for twenty minutes trying to remember the brand of food to get for Peter, so my trip lasted longer than expected.

I decided to call Georgina back now so that I wouldn't forget later, and I picked up the phone and punched in her mobile number.

"Hello?" She answered on the second ring.

"Hey, Georgie." I said, smiling into the receiver as I unpacked the shopping bags I had dumped on the bench.

"'Mione! Hey. How are you?" She asked.

"I'm great, and Peter is doing great too. What about you guys?"

"Yeah, we're good. Em is really happy to be back home, and her parents' house is so lovely. Things are really good here." She was talking quietly which confused me.

"What time is it there?" I wondered.

"Five thirty, that's why I'm whispering. We're five hours behind you; I don't want to wake anyone up."

"Oh! Okay, did you want to go then?"

"Nah, I woke up at five anyway to call you. I don't think I'll be able to get back to sleep now." She sounded tired, but I knew I'd never be able to talk her into going back to bed.

We spoke for a while longer before she decided to get up and start her day. I said goodbye with a promise of calling her again soon and hung up.

The rest of the day was peaceful. I was still pondering over Draco Malfoy and his sudden reappearance into my life but I decided not to think about it. I showered, baked chocolate chip biscuits, cleaned the apartment, and at four thirty I look Peter for a walk. It had only been five days since I'd started house sitting, but it felt like much longer.

As I breezed through the corridor after returning home with Peter in tow, I noticed my new neighbour exiting his apartment. He had on grey jeans and a dark blue jacket, and his left hand held a very battered looking iPod. His blonde hair was dishevelled and left in a mop on the top of his head.

"Malfoy." I spoke a little louder than I thought I would, so it was no surprise that he jumped slightly from my tone.

He looked up at me before locking his door with a quick 'click' and sliding the key into his jean pocket. There was a bag slung over his back and I wondered where he was going.

"Hey Granger." His tone was nonchalant; he was acting as if we saw each other all the time. It made me uncomfortable. More so than it would if he hadn't dismissed me so easily last night.

"What are you-" I wanted to ask him what he was doing here, but I knew I'd end up with a clipped reply and an attempt to shut me out, so I recovered, "I mean, where are you going?"

He shrugged, "Out for a pint."

I nodded. What was I supposed to say? I was desperate to know why he was currently living in an apartment in the middle of a non-magical part of England, using a fucking iPod as if he wasn't capable of simply conjuring his own musical instruments out of thin air. Draco Malfoy, the boy who tormented me for years due to my upbringing, who expressed an immense distain for anything that had nothing to do with _his _world, was standing only meters away from me, looking like a common muggle.

"Look, I know what you're dying to say, but save it." He untangled his earphones and slid them on, "I'm not really interested in an interrogation right now so I'm just gonna cut all the crap and make this really easy for the both of us.

"I live in this apartment," He pointed towards the door he had just exit, "And you're house-sitting, or whatever you fucking called it, for that apartment." He nodded in the direction of Georgina's house, "There's no secret conspiracy theory and this isn't anything more than a strange coincidence. Although I figure you'd find that hard to believe seeing as it always was in your nature to assume the worst in me."

"I…" I grimaced, "I don't assume the wor-"

"You and your friends blamed me for the majority of the shit that happened during school." He deadpanned. I guess I deserved that.

"We didn't blame you for _everything._" To say I was confused was putting it lightly.

"Whatever. I've got to go." He pressed a button on the little electronic device in his hand and walked past me, "Later Granger."

I stood in the middle of the corridor for a couple more minutes before Peter began pulling on the leash. I unlocked the door and stepped inside, quickly extracting him from his collar before he shot off in the direction of his food bowl; leaving me alone to gather my thoughts.

What the hell just happened? Draco's rude attitude was nothing less than what I expected from him, although I could no longer tie it towards his general distaste for my muggle-born status. Perhaps I did always assume the worst in him; yet he'd given me no evidence to prove he had a single decent bone in his body.

I decided that tomorrow I would go and visit Harry. I needed someone to talk to about Draco, and if I was being perfectly honest, I needed to just get out of the apartment for a while. Doing the same thing every day was beginning to give me a bad case of Cabin Fever.

* * *

"So, what? He just _happens _to turn up and move in to his new apartment on the exact day you start house-sitting for Georgina and Emily?" I was currently sitting on the couch of my own apartment. Harry sat across from me, with Ron sitting in the arm chair on my right. It felt nice to be back home again, even if I had been gone for only a few days.

"Yeah. It's weird, right? I mean, it _is _weird isn't it? I'm not just making something out of nothing?" I began chewing on my bottom lip.

I'd arrived at my house about half an hour ago, and after making a pot of tea and catching me up on all things Harry, Ginny, and Ronald related, the boys asked me about how I was going. I was timid at first, not sure how they would react. However, they seemed quite calm about the fact that someone they considered an 'enemy' was living directly across from me. I didn't know whether that was a good or a bad thing.

"Nah, it's kind of weird. I mean, out of all the houses in the entire London… hell, the entire world… he just happens to choose that one?" Ron took a deep gulp of his tea before continuing, "I guess stranger things have happened though."

"Yeah," Harry nodded, "I mean, obviously you should stay alert, but we haven't heard of Malfoy in ages. After the war, he kind of… fell off the grid."

"Really?" I asked. I'd never thought about what happened to him or his family after the war. I assumed they'd taken their money and fled to Bulgaria or something.

"Lucius went mad and Narcissa passed away, so Malfoy just kind of disappeared. Actually, Kingsley did a follow up on all of the remaining affiliates of the Death Eaters a couple months back; there are almost no traces of the guy even existing in the magical world anymore." Harry said.

We were all silent for a moment and I allowed what Harry said to settle inside my brain. What was Draco doing in muggle London? Running away from his past? Or hiding from it?

Ron shoved a pastry in his mouth before turning towards me, "Hey, how's Peter?"

Just like that, the topic of Draco Malfoy had ended.


End file.
